The Essential Rumi
SynopsisPlot
Through his lyrical translations, Coleman Barks has been instrumental in bringing this exquisite literature to a remarkably wide range of readers, making the ecstatic, spiritual poetry of thirteenth-century Sufi Mystic Rumi more popular than ever. The Essential Rumi continues to be the bestselling of all Rumi books, and the definitive selection of his beautiful, mystical poetry.
Story
About this book
Jelaluddin Rumi was a thirteenth-century Sufi mystic and poet born in 1207 in what is now Afghanistan, though he spent much of his life in Konya, in present-day Turkey. His poetry, composed in Persian, circles around themes of love, longing, union with the divine, and the inner life of the soul. Centuries after his death, his work continues to be read across many languages and traditions.
The Essential Rumi is a collection of his poems rendered into English by Coleman Barks. Barks worked from earlier scholarly translations to produce versions aimed at capturing the energy and directness of the originals. The selection covers a wide span of Rumi's output, from short lyric pieces to longer meditative passages. A revised and expanded edition added a new introduction by Barks along with more than eighty poems not included in previous printings.
Rumi's poetry often moves between the concrete and the abstract, using images drawn from everyday life, from wine and bread to rivers and birds, to point toward spiritual states that resist plain description. The poems shift between joy and grief, stillness and urgency, frequently addressing an unnamed beloved whose identity remains deliberately open.
